Rose Tree Media Reporter

At its March 23, 2023 Legislative Meeting, the Rose Tree Media Board of School Directors appointed Dr. Joseph N. Meloche as the school district’s next superintendent.

Dr. Meloche possesses 30 years of experience as an educator, administrator, and superintendent. In 2021, he was named New Jersey’s Superintendent of the Year, and was also selected as New Jersey State Parent Teacher Association Superintendent of the Year in 2018.

Dr. Meloche has been featured in Education Week as a “Leader to Learn From,” and also appeared on the cover of a special edition of the publication.

“The Board of School Directors was impressed with Dr. Meloche’s wealth of knowledge in all areas of school district leadership,” said Theresa Napson-Williams, Board President. “He has a proven track record as a thoughtful and innovative leader who will seek continual improvement for our district while being mindful of children first, always.”

In October 2022, the board hired consultant Judith Wilson to conduct the search. The board was committed to a transparent process that prioritized community feedback. Wilson provided surveys to the district’s faculty, parents, and community to get their thoughts on the qualities they were looking for in the next superintendent. There were also in-person and virtual public forums in January, enabling the board to gather input on the priorities of district residents. After the board conducted extensive interviews, Dr. Meloche emerged as the unanimous choice.

“I am thrilled to join the dedicated faculty and staff of the Rose Tree Media School District,” said Dr. Meloche. “There has been such a discernible sense of pride throughout this process, reflecting the heart of the educational community. I am excited to begin meeting students, families, staff members, and community members as we embark on this journey together.”

Dr. Meloche has served as superintendent of Cherry Hill Public Schools in New Jersey since August 2015. He earned a bachelor’s degree at DeSales University, master’s degrees from Holy Family University and Widener University, and his doctorate in education from Widener University.

The 2023-24 school year calendar was approved by the RTMSD Board of School Directors at its legislative meeting in March.

The board also approved a change to the 2022-23 school calendar, making June 9, 2023 a non-student day so that all RTMSD teachers can attend the Penncrest graduation ceremony.

Penncrest held its first-annual Black History Month Oratorical Contest on February 28 in the auditorium. The event, hosted with the help of Penncrest administrators, teachers, and students, highlighted the work of poet, educator, and activist Nikki Giovanni and her poem “Rosa Parks,” which shines a spotlight on the Pullman Porters and their contributions to the civil rights movement.

Students were tasked with writing their own Rosa Parks-inspired poem highlighting a modern Pullman Porter’s contribution to activism. Participants were judged by a panel of six esteemed members from the higher education and professional community.

In February, students from PHS Spanish classes spent a week in Costa Rica practicing their language skills and immersing themselves in the culture. Students visited cacao and coffee farms that focus on sustainable agriculture and toured Tortuguero National Park along the Caribbean to observe wildlife and converse in Spanish in the local retail markets. It was a wonderful experience with an amazing group of students!

The PHS Human Relations Club sponsored a multicultural field trip to Washington, D.C. in early March. Students visited several sites throughout the morning, including the FDR Memorial, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial, Korean War Memorial, and Lincoln Memorial. In the afternoon, students explored the National Museum of African Art and the National Museum of Asian Art. The four teacher chaperons shared mini lessons on the multicultural significance of each site as well.

On March 30, the boys’ lacrosse teams from Penncrest and Haverford celebrated PHS’s inaugural All In for Inclusion night. The event served as a culmination of Penncrest’s month-long celebration promoting inclusion. It included recognizing Spread the Word for Inclusion day, which promotes unity and acceptance of all people, and Rock Your Socks as part of World Down Syndrome Day, observed by sporting brightly colored, mismatched socks.

As part of the gameday celebration, players and coaches “rocked” colorful socks. One of Penncrest’s “Spread the Word for Inclusion” banners was hung by the snack bar, allowing people to sign and pledge to promote the spirit of inclusion and acceptance with their words and actions. Three students from Penncrest’s Linking Learning to Life Program—Aedan DiCecco, Liam MacCurtin, and Sophia Stafford—were honorary captains for the game.

The Class of 2024 hosted Junior Prom at The Drexelbrook this year. Nearly 300 students took part in the amazing night filled with great food and dancing. It included the traditional crowning of Junior Prom King, Ronan Donaghy, and Prom Queen, Rachel Chabot.

“From the village of Who, to the Jungle of Nool, so many fun creatures are coming to school.

There’s Gertrude and Mayzie, Thing 1 and Thing 2. The Wickershams, Whos and the Sour Kangaroo.

The Cat with his Hat, Horton with his clover, for a show like no other — they are ALL coming over!

Seussical - a super tale that is spun, Come one, come all, you will see all the fun!”

Penncrest’s Emanon Players presented this year’s spring musical, “Seussical,” March 24-26 in the Penncrest auditorium. The show was well attended and loads of fun for everyone involved!

The Penncrest Worldwide Pride Club, sponsored by Sandra Lin, took 28 students and three chaperones to Hawaii to explore the Asian American and Pacific Islanders (AAPI) cultures represented there. Each day was planned to explore a particular AAPI culture, traveling to destinations around the island, then pairing that experience with an authentic meal highlighting that culture’s cuisine.

Students visited the Bishop Museum, Punchbowl National Cemetery, Diamond Head Lookout, Polynesian Culture Center, and Japanese Byodo-In Temple.

Students enrolled in French I through French AP V at Penncrest had the opportunity to travel to Montréal and Québec City March 15-18, thanks to the Penncrest French Department. Students spent five days immersed in Quebecoise language and culture, participated in activities like a cultural scavenger hunt throughout Old Quebec City, dancing and dining at an authentic maple sugar shack, volunteering at Montreal's largest food bank (Moisson Montreal), and learning about Huron-Wendat history and culture through an interactive workshop.

SLMS 6th grade students Kameron, Artemis, Nikki, Adele, and Audrey spearheaded the No One Eats Alone Day initiative, created to ensure everyone had a partner or group at lunch. As part of the day, leaders shared their new slogan: “You are a piece of cake at Springton Lake.” Participating students had a chance to design a piece of cake and receive a bracelet or sticker to celebrate the day!

Springton Lake Middle School is celebrating its 50th anniversary! As part of the celebration, we invited some SLMS alumni to participate in the opening of our time capsule—and a trip down memory lane! The event was recorded by some of our students, and the footage will be used as part of the continued celebration this May. All artifacts are now on display in the building.

A team of three SLMS students competed against a team of three of their teachers last Saturday during the filming of an upcoming episode of FOX 29's game show, “The ClassH-Room.” The trivia game show aims to prove which group is smarter: the students or the teachers. The winning team earns $500—and the right to choose how to spend it—for SLMS.

While the air date has not yet been announced, please plan to tune-in soon to see who prevailed. Everyone involved had a great time representing their school!

Penncrest High School students visited Glenwood this week to present a Cultural, Heritage & Traditions Fair, filled with multicultural presentations and discussions surrounding a variety of countries and cultural practices from around the world.

Some students gave demonstrations or performed dances specific to their region, while others read stories or told tales. GES staff and students were impressed with the knowledge, research, and training Penncrest students put into the event to entertain and teach!

The Glenwood PTG hosted its annual Basket Bingo Night in early April at Penncrest. Each class contributed a different raffle basket filled with goodies ranging from summer baskets, to Phillies baskets, to game night baskets. Mr. Bucci, faculty, and staff took turns calling the bingo numbers. It was a special night for Glenwood families and a wonderful fundraiser for the PTG!

April is the month for celebrating science at Glenwood! In honor of Earth Day, the school invited the Science Explorers, a STEM-based “edu-tainment” group, to present an assembly for all students. The Science Explorer’s master scientist, “Atomic Andy,” taught students about solids, liquids, gasses, and reactions.

In another celebration, Glenwood 3rd grade classes welcomed some "new classmates" in late April! As part of the Embryology Unit, students learned about the life cycle of a chicken, incubated 12 eggs, and had a successful hatch.

Another group of 3rd grade students rounded out their study of the moon, planets, sun, and stars with a trip to West Chester University’s Mather Planetarium for a “trip around the solar system.”

GES honored Autism Awareness this month by "Lighting it Up Blue." Blue is the organization's primary color, associated with a calm feeling and acceptance in an otherwise loud and busy world for people on the autism spectrum. Students and staff wore blue to show support.

Glenwood also celebrated World Down Syndrome Day March 21 with "Rock Your Socks," wearing colorful, crazy socks and learning about Down syndrome!

Glenwood 4th and 5th grade students have been participating in fitness testing during physical education throughout April. While several events took place, the most infamous is the half-mile run. This year, there were two record-breakers: Cole Bonebrake ran the half-mile in 2:37 and Beckham Lewis finished with a time of 2:35.

Fun-fact: Anderson Lewis, Beckham’s brother and current SLMS 7th grader, is the former record-holder. He logged a time of 2:40 in 2021.

On April 14, students worked together to create a school-wide collaborative mural. Each student in the school was assigned a piece of the mural to decorate. The lesson emphasizes to students that although everyone is different, we can all come together to create an amazing school community.

Students are now in the process of putting together the many unique pieces of the mural, which will be displayed at the school. They cannot wait to see what the final product will look like once all the pieces are joined together!

Indian Lane had two Reading Olympics teams this school year. Teams participated at the DCIU Reading Olympics competition on March 28 at Marple Newtown High School. Both teams earned blue ribbons for answering questions about the books on the book list.

We are very proud of our 4th and 5th grade team members for their dedication, hard work, enthusiasm, and teamwork. Most of all, we hope that they had fun and enjoyed reading the books!

On the evening of April 20, Indian Lane had an incredible turnout for the 30th Year Art Show Celebration. Ms. Devine and Mr. O'Neill put together an outstanding event for families and faculty. Many retired and former staff members came back to Indian Lane for the night to celebrate 30 years of art at the school.

Ms. Devine has been the only art teacher at Indian Lane since its inception. She used her skills and experiences to design this year’s show—a beautiful blend of art and Indian Lane History—around both student art and pieces of the 1992 time capsule.

Read Across America Week kicked off many activities at Indian Lane, including a fun, school-wide March Book Madness competition. The competition began with 16 picture books, shared with students as recorded readings by Indian Lane teachers.

After reading book pairs, students voted for their favorites until only one book remained: “The Leaf Thief,” by Alice Hemming. Students were excited about the books and the voting!

LAXAPALOOZA is an all-day event filled with back-to-back lacrosse games played by all ages of the Rose Tree Optimist teams, Penncrest girls’ and boys’ teams, and even some alumni. This annual event honors the late Norman Kelly, Jr., beloved former RTMSD teacher and coach.

All proceeds benefit the "NK Smiles Foundation," a scholarship fund, with the annual award given to deserving Penncrest senior lacrosse players exemplifying the warmth, generosity, and kindness of Norm Kelly on and off the field, and who are pursuing a career in education.

In late April, students and community members were invited to participate in “Poem in Your Pocket,” an annual event in which local businesses in Media Borough and around Middletown offer treats to anyone who comes in and shares a short poem. This year, 33 businesses participated in the event. It was a great opportunity for students to get out into the community, practice public speaking, and share their love of poetry!

Indian Lane 3rd grade students are studying chick embryology in coordination with the 4-H club and Penn State University. For 21 days, the embryos grow inside incubators inside classrooms. Each class takes care of 12 eggs during the week before they hatch. On day 21, the eggs hatch!

If students are lucky enough, students get to watch one or two chicks break out of their shells. Students will then feed the babies, give them water, and play with them for a whole week before returning them to 4-H.

The Unified Bocce team earned both gold and bronze medals in the Special Olympics Elementary School Bocce tournament, held at Jefferson University. Unified Bocce offers students the opportunity to work together, improve their physical fitness, and grow their self-confidence.

Students, staff, and families at Indian Lane raised $2,953 for Special Olympics of Delaware County with their Polar Pop initiative! Members of the student council chose to take part in this event as a school throughout March. Staff and students requested donations and made videos of themselves popping balloons filled with cold water to raise awareness—and funds—for the Special Olympics.

Over the last five years, Indian Lane students have had the opportunity to participate in Unified Bocce and Athletics in partnership with the Delaware County Special Olympics. To share in the experience of inclusion and friendship that have become part of the fabric at Indian Lane, students chose to give back through these fundraising efforts.

On March 28, 5th grade student Bobby C. from Indian Lane participated in the Pennsylvania Music Educators Association (PMEA) District 12 5/6 Delco Band Fest. Bobby worked hard to prepare for the event, at which he and several other RTMSD students were rewarded with a very successful performance!

The Media Elementary Garden Club started its annual season prepping soil and planting snow peas during some of the cold March mornings. As part of the process, club members learned about the importance of worms and composting. They got to know—and even name—their worms, which were released into the garden.

Green bean seeds were germinated and planted just before the spring break. Families of student participants took turns watering and planting during the break.

The garden now has pak choi, which the students started from seed, swiss chard, kale, and lettuce. Once it gets warm enough, students will plant butterfly and pollinator gardens as well—and will learn about the importance of pollinators to make the vegetables grow. The “little garden that could” is off to a great start!

Three 5th grade Media Elementary students have contributed to the school’s student-led morning announcements. A few months ago, they recognized that female athletes did not have as much recognition as male athletes on the news…or in the morning announcements. To remedy that, during announcements every Friday, these students share a female athlete’s accomplishments. We are so proud of these young ladies for being a voice for equality!

Media Elementary 1st grade students have been busy learning about some memorable women whose work has made a significant impact on our world. Students created rockets in honor of Mae Jemison, the first African American woman who went into space. They followed step-by-step directions to draw a shark, then put it in an underwater scene in honor of “The Shark Lady,” marine biologist Eugenie Clark.

The 1st grade students also used their creative-thinking and problem-solving skills to build STEM-inspired sleds after learning about the first woman to win the Iditarod dog sled race, Libby Riddles.

April 9-15 was Local Government Week, which encourages citizens to learn how local government affects residents and businesses within the community. Media Elementary School was fortunate to have Christen Rexing and Elgin Akarsoy from the Upper Providence Council come to the school, where they shared a presentation with students in grades 3-5.

During the first week of March, MES celebrated Read Across America Week by emphasizing the importance of reading through read-aloud sessions and dress-up days! Each morning of the week started with Mrs. Millette singing a stanza from a poem over the morning announcements.

MES students also listened to read-alouds from Springton Lake students, Mrs. Stoddard, Mrs. Scheivert, and parents. Additionally, primary students partnered with 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders for Buddy Reading. We also had a digital library where students had the opportunity to listen to teachers, celebrities, and authors read their favorite books.

Each day had a spirit week theme revolving around literacy, which ranged from “Hats off to Authors and Illustrators” to “Exercise Your Brain by Reading.” The students and staff had a fun week of reading!

At the end of March, 4th- and 5th-grade students participated in the Delaware County Reading Olympics and ended the night with blue and red ribbons! Thank you to Mrs. Bruce and Mr. Goldfarb for leading this group of 55 Reading Olympians. Reading Olympics is a county-wide event that encourages and celebrates reading with students. The goal is to increase the quality and quantity of books students read for enjoyment.

Media Elementary 4th grade students have enjoyed exploring a variety of natural forces (such as gravity, friction, and air resistance) in the Motion and Design science unit. Using K’Nex, each group built a vehicle and then tested the effects of various forces on their vehicle’s motion. Using their knowledge of forces and energy, students will complete a final design challenge by designing and building a vehicle that must meet certain speed and distance requirements.

At the end of March, the Rose Tree Speeder Readers competed in the DCIU Reading Olympics competition at Marple Newtown High School. The team excelled in the competition and were awarded a much-coveted Blue Ribbon! A big thank you to Mrs. JoAnn Podlaski and Ms. Berit Haahr, the team’s coaches, who did an incredible job preparing students for the event. A thank you also goes out to the family members who attended!

The RTES Spring Art Show that took place at the end of March was a huge success! With the efforts of Mrs. Angela Bucolo, we were able to showcase the artistic talents of the Rose Tree students. What a stunning variety of work was on display! A special thanks goes to Mrs. Bucolo for taking on the challenge after such a long hiatus, and to all the families who came out to support their kids.

The Select Choir sang the National Anthem at the Wilmington Blue Rocks game on April 20. Thank you to Mrs. Mari Williams for organizing the event and preparing our students. The performance and the game were a hit, as 232 members of the school community showed up to support the students and the team!

RTES celebrated Rock Your Socks Day on March 21 by wearing brightly colored, mismatched socks in support of World Down Syndrome Day. Thank you to Mrs. Chris Maguire for organizing this event, and to the members of the Starfish Club for selling mismatched socks to raise funds for the Down Syndrome Association of Delaware.

More than 20 student artists displayed their artwork and were then honored by the residents of White Horse Village in Newtown Square. After discussing their art with residents, the students made and ate pizzas for dinner! Thank you to Mrs. Angela Bucolo for arranging this opportunity.

The Rose Tree Media School District community is able to watch Board of School Directors meetings on the district’s YouTube channel, RTMSD Media. These meetings are both aired live and archived for later viewing. In addition, board meetings are aired on the school district’s cable channel on Tuesdays and Fridays at 1:00 p.m.

Board meeting agendas, calendars, minutes, and summaries are available on the district website.

A large amount of information about the Rose Tree Media School District is available on our website at www.rtmsd.org.

District Overview: www.rtmsd.org/domain/61

Meet our Board of School Directors: www.rtmsd.org/domain/60

Finance and Budgetary Information: www.rtmsd.org/Domain/46

Employment: rtmsd.tedk12.com/hire/index.aspx

District and School Calendars: www.rtmsd.org/Page/2

Archived Newsletters: www.rtmsd.org/Page/153